We’re proud to announce the 2024 ETSY Award Winner for Best Experiential Marketing Campaign: Visit Savannah.
In 2023, Visit Savannah produced two large-scale, 4D pop-up events in Chicago and Boston, two of the destination’s top nonstop flight origin markets. The goal was to create a lasting impression on attendees, showcasing the uniqueness and charm of Savannah in a surprising and delightful manner.
Throughout the events, consumers enjoyed listening to the sounds of Savannah-based musicians, tasted local honey and pralines, painted Kipper Millsap’s iconic Savannah mural, snapped photos in front of an 8-foot live oak tree, won Savannah giveaways and took home personalized luggage tags.
Combined, the two pop-up events resulted in 162,382 engagements and an estimated reach of 1,132,379 people.
Throughout the campaign, Visit Savannah proactively engaged its target audience through a multifaceted approach designed to create meaningful interactions and foster a sense of connection. Key engagement strategies included:
Interactive Experiences: Curating immersive and interactive experiences within the pop-up events, encouraging attendees to actively participate via hands-on activities and personalized elements.
Social Media: Visit Savannah consistently shared compelling content across platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. This included teaser posts, behind-the-scenes glimpses, and interactive challenges to spark conversations and encourage user-generated content.
Giveaways: Implementing Savannah swag giveaways for on-site attendees who correctly answered Savannah trivia questions served as a dynamic way to involve the audience.
Real-time Updates: Keeping the audience informed in real-time through event updates and live coverage on social media created a sense of urgency and allowed the audience to feel connected and involved even if they couldn’t attend the events physically.
Surprise Element: By incorporating unexpected elements and spontaneous activities throughout the campaign, we kept our audience intrigued and eager to discover what each event had in store.
Collaborations with Influencers: Partnering with local influencers who resonated with the target audience facilitated authentic connections. These influencers played a vital role in extending the destination’s message, sharing their experiences, and driving engagement within their dedicated communities.
User-Generated Content: Encouraging attendees to share their experiences by creating and using event-specific hashtags generated organic content but also allowed Visit Savannah to curate and showcase the diverse perspectives and excitement surrounding the pop-up events.
Photo Credits: Visit Savannah
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